The Relationship Between Instagram Bans and User Anxiety

Instagram users have expressed their bewilderment, anxiety, and rage to the BBC when their accounts were suspended, frequently because parent firm Meta falsely accused them of violating the platform's policies against child sex abuse.

Tens of thousands of people worldwide have been complaining for months that Meta has been mistakenly banning their Facebook and Instagram accounts.

They claim they have been falsely accused of violating the site's policies, which include those about the exploitation of children for sex.

Some of them spoke about the severe personal toll it has taken on them, including worries that the police could get involved. Still, more than 500 of them have contacted the BBC to say they have lost treasured images and witnessed businesses being upended.

Although Meta acknowledged an issue with the June shutdown of Facebook Groups, it denied that there was a broader problem with Facebook or Instagram in general.

Although it has regularly lifted bans when the BBC brought up specific issues with it, it has consistently declined to comment on the issues its customers are facing.

Some of the stories that users have shared are as follows:

"I have complete faith in social media."

The 26-year-old Dutch woman, Yassmine Boussihmed, spent five years creating an Instagram account for her Eindhoven boutique dress store.

Because of her account integrity, she was banned in April. In an instant, more than 5,000 followers vanished. She was heartbroken when she lost clients.

"I put all of my trust in social media, and social media helped me grow, but it has let me down," she stated.

Her Instagram accounts were restored this week after she sent inquiries regarding her issue to Meta's press office.

She said, "I am so thankful," in a voice note of tears.

Her personal Instagram account was suspended once more five minutes later, but the dress business account was left on.

She is from Austin, Texas, and is 21 years old. Her name is Lucia.

She violated Meta's policy on child sexual exploitation (CSE), abuse, and nudity, which resulted in a little more than two-week Instagram suspension.

She was not informed which post violated the platform's guidelines, as was the case in every other instance.

Because she believes they "look a little bit younger," she has been wondering if a photo she uploaded of herself and her 21-year-old friend wearing bikini tops had set off the artificial intelligence (AI) moderating algorithms.

She also communicates with people under the age of eighteen using her account, giving her younger sister Reels, for example.

"Having an accusation as vile as this one is extremely upsetting," she told BBC News.

"Given that I have a desire to work in juvenile justice as an attorney and advocate on behalf of children, I am appalled to have been suspended for something I know I did not do and would never do."

She filed an appeal, and her account was reinstated without any justification roughly seven hours after the BBC brought Lucia's situation to the attention of Meta's press office.

A petition accusing Meta of fraudulently banning accounts has amassed over 36,000 signatures, and thousands more are commenting about it on social media and on Reddit communities.

Meta's AI is being used to handle appeals and arbitrarily ban people, according to their main claim. Paying for Meta Verified is the only option to communicate with a human, and even then, many people are irritated.

Meta has not responded to these assertions. Instagram claims that AI is essential to its "content review process," and Meta has described how both humans and technology uphold its rules.

A community destroyed

Cheshire resident Duncan Edmonstone has stage four ALK+ lung cancer. The 55-year-old's support system in private Facebook groups provides him with comfort.

He was suspended for 12 days at the end of June for violating cybersecurity policies, but he was later allowed to return.

"The support groups are my lifeline, and there are actual examples of where advice from group members has made a difference to other patients' treatment," he stated.

"I draw satisfaction and meaning, in a life that is probably going to be cut short, from helping other people in that group."

Banned, then unbanned, then banned once more.

Over the past few months, Ryan—not his real name—has been banned from Instagram, reinstated, then banned once more.

After being accused of violating the CSE code, the former London teacher was removed from the site in May.

He appealed for a month. According to the BBC, a human moderator double-checked in June and determined Ryan had violated the rule.

Then, toward the end of July, his account was suddenly reinstated.

Instagram sent him an email saying, "We're sorry we've got this wrong," but he had done nothing wrong.

The shock left Ryan speechless.

The message's tone was described as "'Sorry we called you a paedophile for two months - here is your account back,'" by him.

However, the narrative did not finish there.

Meta was once more banned on Instagram and, for the first time, Facebook just hours after the BBC reached out to its press office to inquire about its experience.

As he told the BBC, "I am devastated and I don't know what to do,"

"I can't believe it has happened twice."

Two days later, his Facebook account was restored, but he was still restricted on Instagram.

Ryan claims that his sense of isolation and anxiety about the cops "knocking on the door" have affected him.

His story is similar to that of other Instagram users who told the BBC about the "extreme stress" they were under after being falsely accused of violating the platform's CSE guidelines and having their accounts blocked.

What did Meta say?

Despite acting on the testimonies of Ryan, Lucia, and Yassmine, Meta has not responded.

Like many large digital companies, it has faced pressure from regulators to secure its platforms.

Meta announced in July that it was taking "aggressive action" against users who violated its guidelines, which included deleting 635,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts due to sexualized remarks and images involving children.

Since Boxing Day last year, Meta's comprehensive policy on child sexual exploitation has undergone three revisions, all of which have taken place since July 17.

What effect, if any, these adjustments had on the cases we brought up with it has not been disclosed.